William "Bill" D. Hagenstein was a strong advocate for regional and national forestry policies that protected forests and ensured their continued productivity.
He earned his B.S. in Forestry in 1938 from the University of Washington, and his master's degree from the School of Forestry at Duke University in 1941. Hagenstein then worked for the West Coast Lumbermen's Association as the forester for Western Washington. He also participated in the Keep Washington Green and Keep Oregon Green associations.
In 1943, during WWII, Hagenstein went to the South and Central Pacific, where he served as the chief engineer of military lumbering and built a saw mill to support the war effort. He went to Costa Rica two years later to help establish a cinchona (quinine) plantation that was used to grow the bark necessary for producing the drug that was used to treat malaria. Hagenstein returned to the West Coast Lumbermen's Association in 1949, when he began work with the Industrial Forestry Association.